Thursday, November 20, 2008

Doulas as part of YOUR birth team

This morning' Today Show aired a segment about the role a doula can play in a woman's birth plan and experience. My feeling, unfortunately, is that the segment played mostly to the medical community (calling the doctor and L&D nurse the head of a mother's team) and once again downplayed a woman's right to be educated and or make choices about her birth experience. Dr. Nancy Snyderman suggested a woman interested in hiring a doula check with her doctor first and introduce your doula to your physician during a prenatal appointment. A doctor whose hospital has banned the use of doulas during births was interviewed because she and the hospital administration felt a doula's presence too often interfered in mother's making the "right choice" during birth. Not once did the segment mention our culture's Cesarean rate of 30% and the fact that having a doula present can significantly lower that rate for individual women. Many laboring women (not all, however, to be fair) were pictured in hospital gowns and hooked to IV's in a hospital bed.

The fact is having a doula can be a wonderful way to empower yourself during your birth and have additional emotional and hands on support for you and your birth partner. Another fact is that if you are having a birth attended by an OB in a hospital setting, chances are you will be laboring on your own without the presence of a physician (who may or may not be the primary physician of your prenatal care) with intermittent visits from a labor and deliver nurse.
Dar a Luz Network's motto of "Knowledge, Power and Support" encourages women to educate themselves and make informed choices about the type of birth that is appropriate for you and your family. This include the decision to hire and locate a doula. DONA is an excellent organization to find referrals for a doula in your area. You, as the pregnant mother are the head of your birth team and it is important to find team members that are in line and in support of what you choose during your birth.